• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.3-9
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• 2000

The new FLD of the laser welded blank, which includes FLCs of welded zone and base metals, is introduced. For the forming limits of welded zone, the hemispherical dome punch tests were performed with various widths of asymmetric specimen. The FLC0 as well as the dome height at fracture associated with various specimen widths in the same and different thickness combinations were found to see the formability depending on thickness combinations. In order to show the application of the new FLD, the measured strains of squared cup drawing and simulated strains of door inner panel stamping were compared with those of FLCs. The successful prediction of fracture in the applications reveals that the forming limits of welded zone and base metals should be separately found for more accurate evaluation of the formability and workability of the laser welded blank.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.11-18
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• 2014

This research was conducted as a fundamental study to apply tailored blank welding technique into automotive production process. Specially we tried to apply the TWB technique to exhaust system. The materials used in this work were ferritic 439 stainless steel sheet with a thickness of 1.2mm and 0.8mm. Welding tests were conducted for BOP test and dissimilar thickness (0.8 to 1.2t) cases. Major process parameters were position of focus, travel speed, shielding gas and joint (gap) condition. As a result, there are nothing significant welding characteristic compare with TWB of carbon steel. Stainless steel shows the good weldability and mechanical properties (tensile, hardness and forming strength) also shows high level. Just problem is gap condition. However, also in this case, it shows not only good forming strength but also base metal fracture after tensile test. And to conclude, it is good opportunity to make lightweight design muffler using TB welding technique.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.100-110
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• 1998

In this paper, the laser weldability of thin gage steels for automobile application is discussed. Welding was carried out with a high power carbon dioxide laser system, and the laser energy was concentrated through a plano-convex lens. Test results showed that the joint gap in the butt welding proved to be one of the critical conditions for an acceptable weld. In the case where the ratio of the gap clearance to the material thickness was slightly bigger than optimal value, the weld strength was reduced showing weld metal fracture. It was possible to obtained a weld penetration ratio of 0.91 when the vertical offset ratio was controlled to be 0.4 or smaller. Results also demonstrated that the weld strength of the lap joint was influenced by travel speed. At the travel speeds lower than 37 mm/s, the weld strength indicated higher value than that of class A recommendation strength of a resistance spot weld based on the KS code. It was clear that the complicated effect of specimen alignment should be considered so as to make a sound weld with high integrity when the laser process was applied to the long weld line.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 1998

This paper deals with the effect of laser welding parameters on the weld formation. Thin steels for automotive application were prepared so as to be welded with high power carbon dioxide laser system. Major process parameters were position of focus and travel speed. The effect of shielding gas was also discussed by employing the high speed photometry. Test results showed that the optimal position of focus varied in accordance with the joint configuration; bead-on-plate, butt or lap welding. It was recommended that the position of focus for the lap welding be located at slightly inner part of the material to be welded. In this case, however, it was noticeable that the weld penetration ratio, d/t$_{0}$ dropped drastically at the critical region. Results also demonstrated that both the bead width and penetration reduced as the travel speed increased. The penetration ratio showed two distinct regions; stabilized zone at the lower range of the travel spped and sudden drop zone at the higher range of travel speed. Lower limit of the penetration for acceptable weld was proved to be about 90% of the parent metal thickness based on the physical properties of the weld. Mixed gas application for both the shielding of molten metal and laser induced plasma control was recommended as far as the penetration was concerned.d.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.22-30
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• 2000

The sub-frame of passenger car begins to be used widely for the safety of passengers. Conventional design of the sub-frame comprises 22parts, and it requires quite complicated production processes. In this papers, the sub-frame is designed with TWB(Tailor Welded Blanks) to improve stiffness, to reduce weight and to simplify the manufacturing process. To design the proper structure, structural analysis and crash analysis are executed about the conventional design and TWB applied design. A prototype TWB applied sub-frame is manufactured using mash-seam welded TB(Tailored Blanks). Comparing with the conventional sub-frame, the TWB applied sub-frame has 30% weight reduction and 17% increasement of structural stiffness in average.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.15 no.4 s.85
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• pp.289-294
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• 2006

To reduce automobile parts weight, TWB(tailored welded blank) forming is widely used in panel forming. But products used TWB forming process have many defect, wrinkle, crack and springback. So study of TWB forming process character is very important. In this study one of the current problems of TWB forming was analyzed, especially for the try-out process of inner door panel without frame. A comparison was made between actual measurements and prediction of forming analysis for formability and springback. Also a new analysis die model which have additional plane on die surface was proposed to correct result of forming analysis. This proposed method overcomes the difference for TWB forming result between try-out and analysis.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.249-253
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• 2003

In recent years, developments of light weight vehicle are one of the most important issues in automotive makers. New materials and new processes have been studied on the point of weight saving of chassis worldwide. Associated with materials, applications of high strength steel, aluminium, magnesium are being developed. On the point of new processes, tailored welded blank and hydroforming have been applied. In this paper, focusing to both material and process, we have applied hydroforming process to the engine cradle. In addition to that, three kinds of high strength steel have been applied to the development of light weight material for hydroforming. All the studies have been carried by FEM.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2002.04b
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• pp.7-7
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• 2002

Recently social demand to achieve low fuel consumption and clean emission requires the development of new generation vehicle beyond the conventional vehicle concept. In this point, new generation vehicle is newly designed as electric vehicle, hybrid electric vehicle, fuel cell electric vehicle or 3 liter car etc. In order to develop new generation vehicle, it is very important to develop new materials and process technologies now. In this paper these new technologies are presented focusing on weight reduction specially. Steel body can be achieved 20-25% weight reduction by adoption of high strength steel and new process technologies, i.e tailored blank and hydroforming. Aluminium body can be achieved 40-50% weigt down by use of all aluminium monocoque body or aluminium space frame with aluminium panel. Plasitic composite body can be achieved 30% weight reduction comparing with conventional steel body.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.606-611
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• 2002

Welding using lasers can be mass-produced in high speed. In the laser welding, performing real-time monitoring system of the welding quality is very important in enhancing the efficiency of welding. In this study, the plasma and molten metal which are generated during laser welding were measured using the UV sensor and IR sensors. The results of laser welding were classified into five categories such as optimal heat input, little low heat input, low heat input, partial joining due to gap mismatch, and nozzle deviation. Also, a system was formulated which uses the measured signals with a fuzzy pattern recognition method which is used to perform real-time evaluation of the welding quality and the defects which can occur in laser welding.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.132-137
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• 2004

In order to reduce automobile parts weight, TWB(Tailored welded blank) forming is widely used in the forming of car panel, such as door inner, side outer panels. In this study, one of the current problems of TWB forming was analyzed, especially for the try-out process of TWB door inner panel without frame. A comparison was made between actual panel measurements and results of forming analysis for formability and springback.